A/N: I'm astounded by all the reviews I received last chapter! Thank you so much, guys!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, or (unfortunately) Jasper.

When you're in trouble,
That crooked little smile
Melts my heart of stone.
I look at you,
I turn around,
And you've almost grown.

-My Little Girl, Tim McGraw

BPOV

I stood in the door way of my science class, just staring at my brother laughing in Jasper's arms.

I thought he hated children.

I thought Caiden hated other people.

What the hell happened to make these two least likely people change their ways for each other?

"Ms. Swan, would you please take your seat?" asked Mr. Smithson. I nodded mutely as Jasper looked up at me. In his eyes, for one split second, I saw nothing but joy and love. Then, as though he realized I could read his emotions from them, his eyes hardened and he picked up Caiden so my brother was standing on his knees.

"Here," he said roughly, "take the kid back now. I got better things to do than make a toddler happy when I'm in school."

I reached out to Caiden, giving Jasper a small smile as I did so. Caiden came over happily, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Settling my brother on my lap, I ripped a page out of my notebook and dug a crayon out of my bag. He was content to sit there for the whole hour and just draw, occasionally cooing.

When the bell rang, I threw my books in my bag as quickly as I could. I set Caiden on the floor while I packed up, asking him to stay still. When I looked up again, I panicked. Caiden was gone!

He had never, ever left the spot I had put him in, especially if I asked him to stay there. I sighed with relief when I heard his giggling behind me.

"Caiden Matthew! I asked you to stay where you were-" I cut myself off when I turned and saw Jasper holding my brother yet again.

"Lose something?" he asked, amused.

"Yes, actually, but now that you've found him we can leave. C'mon, kiddo," I said, holding out my hands for him. He leaned over and I took him out of Jasper's grasp.

Jasper walked with us to the parking lot. As he headed for his car, I headed for the road.

"Where are you going?" he called out from behind me. I turned, confused.

"Walking home?" I said it as a question.

"Why?"

"Because I don't feel like sleeping at school?" What was it with me and my question-answers?

"Come on, I'll give you a lift." I looked at Caiden, who giggled and clapped, and I shrugged. Why not?

I held Caiden in my lap in the front seat, situating the seat belt so that it covered both of us but wouldn't hurt my brother if he was shoved against it.

"So why were you walking?" asked Jasper.

"Edward wasn't able to get out of work in time to pick us up, so I told him not to worry about it. Tomorrow I'll be bringing a stroller, though," I said, rolling my eyes. I was just happy I didn't have to carry Caiden all the way home.

"Tomorrow you'll be getting a ride from me," corrected Jasper. "In the morning, too. Be ready," he added as he pulled into our driveway.

"Jazz, it takes less time to walk than it does to drive," I told him. "Seriously…you see the library? The school is right there." I pointed just past the library, and he looked.

"Well then…" he trailed off, looking frustrated. "I'll come here and we'll walk to school together." He glared at me, challenging me to make up another excuse. I shrugged. Who was I to deny the company of the hottest guy in school?

"Sure, sure," I said. "Be here by seven. I leave at five past, with or without you." I gave him a cheeky grin and got out of the car.

I waved to him as he pulled out of the driveway, and shifted Caiden on my hip so I could grab my keys.

"Hey Biggie!"

I turned, wondering who the hell "Biggie" was. I saw a guy who looked about seven feet tall, and three hundred pounds.

Guess that answers that question.

"Yo!" he called to the other guy. The other guy was shorter, had greasy black hair and tattoos all over his bare arms. Gross.

I briefly wondered if they made up a gang, but shook that thought out of my head. A gang in Bedford? Yeah…in the wannabe's dreams. I laughed at that thought.

I unlocked the door and carried Caiden in, setting him on the floor with my bags. He ran into the living room and I followed, pulling some of his toys out. We hadn't had a "therapy session" in a while, so I sat down with him.

He didn't actually have therapy, since I was adamant about doing things myself; so what actually happened most of the time was I would sit on the floor with him and some of his toys, trying to get him to speak. The touching therapy would come whenever there was a close friend or family member around, to try and get him to be okay with people we knew touching him. It never worked…before today.

What had Jasper done that had Caiden giggling, let alone not freaking out?

I sat down, grabbing a multi-colored toy. I picked up the blue piece, and began.

"What color is this, Caiden? Can you tell me?" He grabbed for it, and promptly began playing with it. I tried another tactic.

"Can you tell me your name? Can you say 'Cay-din'?" My poor little brother just looked at me as though I had three heads and proceeded playing.

I sighed. This was just too much to handle today. I'll continue tomorrow, I thought as I got up to start dinner. Just as I rounded the corner, Caiden let out an earsplitting scream.

"Mama!"